Alacer Gold Corp. announces a 117% increase in the Ardich indicated mineral resource in the Çöpler Mining District of Turkey and also issued an updated prefeasibility study for the Gediktepe project in the country. Alacer lists an additional 345,000 contained gold ounces in the indicated Ardich resource, which it now has 639,000 ounces of gold at an average grade of 1.50 grams per tonne. The inferred mineral resource estimate is 96,000 ounces at an average grade of 1.16 g/t.”Given its potential and near-term development optionality, Ardich has become the highest-priority development target in Alacer’s portfolio,” says Rod Antal, president and chief executive officer. Meanwhile, the updated PFS reflects “positive economics” for the Gediktepe project with an after-tax internal rate of return of 27% and a $252 million after-tax net present value, the company says. Gediktepe is owned through the Polimetal joint venture on a 50-50 basis with Lidya Madencilik San. ve Tic. A.S. (Lidya Mining), the Gediktepe Project operator. “The updated Gediktepe PFS continues to demonstrate the economic value and technical viability of the project,” Antal says. The company reports a mine life of 11 years with a project payback of 4.1 years. Alacer reports measured and indicated mineral resources of 878,000 ounces of gold, 29.8 million ounces of silver, 537 million pounds of copper and 1.05 billion pounds of zinc.
Source: kitco
